Yesha Council heads appeared disappointed after their two-hour meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in
Tel Aviv Thursday.
The prime minister was expected to tell the settlers that he intends to stand by the National Security Cabinet's decision, but would be willing to consider relief measures on matters that won't violate the government's decision.
Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan said that they reiterated their no-negotiations stance and noted that they will continue resisting the freeze order.
"The meeting was abound with sorrow and stress with no outcomes. I left the meeting very sad," Yesha Council Director-General Pinchas Wallerstein said.
The settler representatives who attended the meeting said that the prime minister told them he wanted to prove to the world that Israel wasn't opposed to peace and promised them that construction would resume after 10 months. Gush Etzion council head Shaul Goldstein told Ynet that Netanyahu remarked that things would change for the better in the coming days.
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| Barak: Settlements are part of Israel / Tal Rabinovsky |
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In meeting with four West Bank council heads, Defense Minister Ehud Barak stresses that 'settlement blocs are inseparable part of Israel in all future negotiations with Palestinians'. Vows council heads can continue to authorize infrastructure construction, small changes |
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Meanwhile, a subcommittee of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee dedicated to matters pertaining to Judea and Samaria decided to call on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to
suspend the settlement construction freeze orders.
Sources in the committee, which is headed by Knesset Member Zeev Elkin, said that their decision relates to legal issues.They further stated that the issue of compensation needs to be settled prior to the orders' execution.
Prior to the meeting, Danny Dayan said, "We are going to flat out demand the annulment of the freeze order. We will continue building as much as we can, at any price."
Dayan added that they are not interested in financial benefits and stressed that their goal is to convey that the freeze is wrong and illegitimate.
"We prefer to keep building with the government, but if it turns out to be a weak and submissive government we shall build without it."
Referring to Netanyahu he noted, "The man who prior to the elections planted a tree in Kidda, the man who promised to keep building in Beit Aryeh is now halting construction and arresting a council head. We don’t trust his words."
Commenting on the Yesha Council heads' refusal to meet Defense Minister Barak, Dayan said, "He has been out to get the settlement enterprise even before this freeze order. Barak sends his inspectors foaming at the mouth. Reserve troops are being recruited and training is stopped in order to fight young couples who want to build a home."
Wallerstein said prior to the meeting, "We shall tell the prime minister that this is an immoral and impossible move. We shall guide the public not to allow inspectors in. Each one shall give his body and if necessary will go to jail for it. I would be honored to go to prison if this is a felony."
Netanyahu met with
Likud activists
Wednesday and was quoted as saying that "the Americans drove me crazy, they wanted (a freeze) in Jerusalem as well." The statements were denied by the Prime Minister's office. T
The activists also quoted him as saying, "People have evacuated before, I'm not evacuating anything. No one is going to teach me about the settlement. I have pledged for 10 months, now it's already less than that."
He apparently promised the Likud members that he would try to reach an agreement with the settlers' leaders.
Defense Minister Barak met with four West Bank council heads Wednesday and stressed to them that "the settlement blocs are an inseparable part of Israel in all future negotiations with the Palestinians. The Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea are regions that are dear to my heart."
Roni Sofer, Naama Lanir, Roi Mandel and Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
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